Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - May 19th
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Day 40: Sunday 19th May
above Joshua Canyon – Piute Mountain Road
I left at 6.15am with “Billy Goat” and “Cloudwalker”. This was a late start for them,
but an early start for me. Mule Deer were around in the cool of the morning and a
Coyote could be seen and heard howling in the distance. We followed cattle for a mile as
they showed their usual stupidity by trying to get away from us up the trail, rather than
escaping to the side.
We came across the following notice on the PCT along with a chain across the trail:
“Armed Surveillance, Private Property, Keep Out”.
This was typical of the landowners in these parts who were very much against allowing
others onto their land.
The trail passed through lovely open forest and we lunched in the shade at Robin Bird
Spring. The spring was named after the American Robin, a bird that must have been
named by a homesick immigrant from England, as the only resemblance to a robin was
the reddish brown breast. The bird, actually a species of Thrush, was very common all the
way along the PCT. We had a long stop at the spring during which “Billy Goat” provided
us with a concoction that he claimed was herbal tea. I learnt that “Cloudwalker” had
been brought up on a 100-acre farm in Maryland: A farm without running water or
electricity. From the age of ten he worked behind the plough, not returning to school
until November each year, despite the best efforts of the truancy officer.
After Robin Bird Spring we reached the start of the “Sierra” type terrain with granite
outcrops in open conifer forest with very little ground cover. We met a man on an off-
road vehicle looking for his dog, which had been lost in the hills a couple of days earlier.
He was rather desperate because he had recently auditioned his dog for a part in a
Hollywood movie due to be filmed in July and had got himself a lucrative contract. We
camped at the Piute Mountain Road, where we were met by Mary, who fed us with
salmon stew. As cloud had built up in the afternoon “Cloudwalker” put up his “tarp” for
the first time on the trip. His was a superior tarp with a built in mosquito net. Lighter
than a tent, it was good for camping in the woods, but not really designed to cope with
both wind and rain in the open.
Day 40: 16.7 miles 6.50 hours Camp: Piute Mountain Road
above Joshua Canyon – Piute Mountain Road
I left at 6.15am with “Billy Goat” and “Cloudwalker”. This was a late start for them,
but an early start for me. Mule Deer were around in the cool of the morning and a
Coyote could be seen and heard howling in the distance. We followed cattle for a mile as
they showed their usual stupidity by trying to get away from us up the trail, rather than
escaping to the side.
We came across the following notice on the PCT along with a chain across the trail:
“Armed Surveillance, Private Property, Keep Out”.
This was typical of the landowners in these parts who were very much against allowing
others onto their land.
The trail passed through lovely open forest and we lunched in the shade at Robin Bird
Spring. The spring was named after the American Robin, a bird that must have been
named by a homesick immigrant from England, as the only resemblance to a robin was
the reddish brown breast. The bird, actually a species of Thrush, was very common all the
way along the PCT. We had a long stop at the spring during which “Billy Goat” provided
us with a concoction that he claimed was herbal tea. I learnt that “Cloudwalker” had
been brought up on a 100-acre farm in Maryland: A farm without running water or
electricity. From the age of ten he worked behind the plough, not returning to school
until November each year, despite the best efforts of the truancy officer.
After Robin Bird Spring we reached the start of the “Sierra” type terrain with granite
outcrops in open conifer forest with very little ground cover. We met a man on an off-
road vehicle looking for his dog, which had been lost in the hills a couple of days earlier.
He was rather desperate because he had recently auditioned his dog for a part in a
Hollywood movie due to be filmed in July and had got himself a lucrative contract. We
camped at the Piute Mountain Road, where we were met by Mary, who fed us with
salmon stew. As cloud had built up in the afternoon “Cloudwalker” put up his “tarp” for
the first time on the trip. His was a superior tarp with a built in mosquito net. Lighter
than a tent, it was good for camping in the woods, but not really designed to cope with
both wind and rain in the open.
Day 40: 16.7 miles 6.50 hours Camp: Piute Mountain Road
Ancient Brit
Billy Goat and
Cloudwalker
Cloudwalker
Piute Mountains
Cloudwalker bedded down